


Refrozen

by penamor



Category: Disney Animated Fandoms, Frozen (2013), Sneedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen
Genre: Anna/Kristoff if you squint, Trolls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 15:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5503031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penamor/pseuds/penamor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A re-imagining of Frozen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Refrozen

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, don't stone me to death here... *whispers* I didn't like Frozen.
> 
> I sincerely don't want to hurt the feelings of anyone that did, but personally, I thought the plot was just sloppy. I just have so many questions. How did Elsa get her powers? What are their limits? Why can she create clothing, ice skates, and, for God's sakes, living snowmen?? What the heck is Kristoff's backstory? What is the point of the Duke of Weaselton? Why is the story so unrecognizably different from the story it was based on?
> 
> With all these issues in mind, this is what happened.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl.

A little princess, actually – the second born to the kingdom of Arendelle. The spare, in case the elder was unable to come into the throne that was her birthright. The princess that was bowed to in the streets, but never revered like the older.

It seemed to the little girl that she was everything her sister wasn’t. Where Anna was bright, all red hair, sunshine and blue eyes, Elsa was the pale, dark haired, quiet child. While one spent her time socializing and flirting with the kingdom’s residents, the other sat in an armchair with a tome. The elder often spoke before she thought. The younger was frugal with words and gave them out sparingly, despite the maelstrom of thoughts in her little head.

Elsa was occasionally jealous. But for all that, they were the best of friends. Anna drew Elsa out of the shell she often receded into, and Elsa tempered her sister’s reckless behavior. They evened each other out; Anna turned Elsa’s wintry personality to autumn, and Elsa turned Anna’s never ending summer shine into a gentle spring.

When the little princesses grew older, however, they were separated more and more. Anna was dragged away to learn the responsibilities of the crown. Elsa, lonely, had read every book in the library. She had even wandered into her father’s private study to satisfy her craving for knowledge. Books were always there when people weren’t. She read stories of trolls and magic, and of water dwelling nymphs that would drag a man under after beguiling him out of his wits. Tales of giants that shook the earth with their mighty footsteps. Mothers always warned their children to stay away from the mountain forests for fear that such beasts would snatch them up-but as other children kept a wary distance, Elsa walked towards the monsters.

The girl disregarded her mother, wringing her gloved hands in worry as she took shelter in the doorway of the palace and called for Elsa to _‘not wander off.’_ The little brunette girl looked over her shoulder at the woman with soft crow’s feet. With a reassuring smile and a soft call that _‘no, of course she wouldn’t,_ ’ Elsa kept wandering.

-           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -          

“We should eats the people,” one of the trolls grumbled in a voice like a mountain landslide. “Come to their houses in the night and make off withs ‘em.”

“We can’ts, Alv,” the other snarled. “There’s a’too manies of them. They’d beats us and kills us.”

The first scratched his head. “But I hates living off their goatses and reindeers, Mulda. We should takes a man to eat, and a woman to keeps as a pet.”

Mulda waved a hand at the other and kept trudging through the forest.

That was Elsa’s first impression of mountain trolls. They were huge and brown like the earth, with long, ropelike arms. Their knuckles grazed the ground when they walked their lumbering walk. They were covered in hair, masking any sort of masculine or feminine trait; Elsa simply assumed that Alv was a male troll and that Mulda was female.

It may have occurred to the young woman to run. Here were two behemoths speaking casually about making lunch of her subjects. Elsa should have been sprinting as fast as her thin legs could carry her, down out of the forest and back from whence she came. But all fear flew out of her mind like a clever fish from a net when she saw what was under the trolls’ gargantuan feet.

With every step, ice spread across the ground. Shining, gleaming, she noticed for the first time the frozen droplets of water crystallized in the creatures’ shaggy hair. Elsa had read about ice trolls, but nothing compared to seeing them up close. She followed them, hiding behind the bushes and trees, watching plants wither and freeze.

She _had_ to learn to do that. When Anna was preoccupied with her crown, Elsa could amuse herself with snowflakes and magic.

That was why, when the trolls settled down and sat on rocks near the huge, gaping maw of a cave, Elsa stepped out from behind a tree.

“Hello,” She called.

Massive heads swiveled on thick necks to look down at her.

“Alv,” one commented, “I reckon we’s lucky as anything.”

He looked ready to stretch out a hand and pick her off the ground. Elsa continued hurriedly, hoping her soft voice could distract him for a moment longer. “Pardon me, but I couldn’t help noticing that you have ice powers.”

The smaller one, though not by much, peered down at her. “That we do, missy, but wot’s it to you?”

She shrugged frail shoulders. “I just thought it was amazing, that’s all.”

The one she thought was Alv began to preen. “‘Course it is,” he growled in a baritone. “That’s obvious.”

Even hell-bent on eating someone, he didn’t seem inclined to make a grab for her just yet. She supposed that flattery was the best way to go if she wanted to learn their ways. “It’s very beautiful. I simply wondered if two masters such as yourselves would lower yourselves to teach a human how to do the same?”

Mulda scoffed. “Teach a ‘uman? Why, humans can’t do a thing. ‘Aven’t got any powers, ‘ave they?”

“Of course, you are wise to say so,” Elsa remarked. “But, isn’t there any way to acquire such power?”

Alv looked at his companion. “We could give her the power, couldn’t we’s? Just a little ice to the heart-“

Mulda rapidly shushed him. “No, we couldns’t.” At Elsa’s politely curious look, she waved her hands in front of her. “Ain’t no such thing is possible.”

“But, suppose it were,” the princess inquired. She had read all about their kind, and of what they stole. Trolls were notorious for hoarding treasure – mountains of it that they stole. They also stole women – particularly princesses, if they could find them – right out from under their fathers’, brothers’, and husbands’ noses. The poor girls were forever trapped in servitude, polishing the treasure until it shone. “If a girl – say, a princess – promised to stay with your and be your servant, would you give her the powers?”

Mulda scratched her hairy head. “I’d say it’s too good to be true, that’s wot.” Mulda’s reasoning wasn’t far off. Elsa had no intention of becoming a servant. She planned to run off the moment they gave her the powers. The princess felt horrible about her plan, but she would make sure that they were rewarded with more than enough gold from her parents’ treasury.

Elsa gave a deep curtsy, delicate feet pointed just so. “Princess Elsa of Arendelle, at your service.”

The trolls looked at each other, then back to her. Then, back to each other.

“Maybe’s,” Alv said slowly, “If you promises not to be tricksy…”

Her grey eyes shone with anticipation.

“Oy, let’s do it, Mulda.” Alv gestured to the girl with a hand as big as her entire body. “When’s we gonna get a chance like this again, eh?”

The female troll looked deep in deliberation, but eventually she appraised Elsa with a scan of her giant eyes. “…Alright, then,” she said slowly. She held out a huge hand, and ice shot from the tip of her fingernail like a particularly sharp icicle. Cold and cruel, it shot straight into Elsa’s chest.

According to the court physician, Elsa had almost cracked a rib once. She’d been sliding down the bannister with Anna when they were very small, in a show of rare abandon. The younger daughter had taken a spill, and landed flat on her chest.

The shooting, stabbing pain was very familiar. She couldn’t take a breath no matter how hard she tried. Elsa could exhale with a wheeze, but couldn’t bring the air back into her lungs. Panicking, she wondered if this was how she would die.

Then, the pain passed. So did the fear, as she took a deep breath and rose from the ground. Under her feet, a sheet of ice as clear as a mirror spread like spilled water. Looking at her reflection in it, Elsa caught sight of her dark hair turning a shocking shade of white.

“I guess it worked, then,” Alv said. “Didn’t fink it would. If you died, we could’ve just eated ya.”

“Fascinating.” A voice came from Elsa that was not her own. It was dry and uninterested, and when she looked up at the trolls, the princess looked bored.

With a wave of her hand, ice started to grow around the trolls.

“Say, what’re ya doin’?” One demanded, as ice crept up its shin.

“You stop that, now- you’re our servant,” the other roared. Ice continued to spread across its arm like a vambrace.

Both gave a final, prolonged shout. It sent birds flying from their perches in the trees above as the ice grew up their necks, across their cheeks, freezing their eyes shut.

When the princess left the forest, she was little no more. Her hair was frosted over, her eyes were cold, and her heart was as frozen as the giant statues of ice she left in her wake.

-              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -             

Cries of shock followed the princess as she walked back into town. Frost came with her, and a biting wind cut through the air and left her townsfolk shuddering. She took no notice of them, sharp chin held high.

It didn’t take long for everyone in the vicinity to notice the ice spreading wickedly across the ground, freezing the cobblestones into a slick, dangerous surface. But Elsa didn’t slip once.

She could ignore the masses as she always had, but she couldn’t ignore her red haired sister bounding out of the castle doors and into the town square. She’d seen an approaching snowstorm through her window, and run outside to investigate – after all, it was midsummer.

Elsa came striding into town as if all was normal. As if winds were not gusting around her, and as if her eyelashes weren’t crystallized with ice. Anna’s blue eyes that entranced half the men in Arendelle were widened in horror. The younger, now with cheekbones more prominent than they should ever be in a young woman of her age, saw only a twisted, ugly little red-headed girl.

“Elsa, what happened? …Your hair, it’s-“

“Go away, Anna. I don’t feel like dealing with your empty-headed prattling today.”

Anna shrank back, wounded, as the current King and Queen of Arendelle came rushing out of the building. Elsa saw just a stuck up man she’d always hated and a sniveling woman acting clumsy and undignified.

“Oh good, the family’s all here.” Elsa gave sarcastic half-smile, sharp incisor glinting.

Her sad excuse of a father’s eyebrows twisted in concern. “Elsa, are you alright?”

She took a deep breath of the clear, chilly mountain air she’d brought with her. Reveling in it, she grinned fully now. “I’ve never been better.” Looking skyward, the spare heir held her arms open with her palms facing the heavens.

The clouds began to dust snow across their wary faces, and those of the watching townspeople. Those in less warm clothing began to shiver and pull their sleeves down over bare arms.

“Are _you_ doing that?” Anna demanded, voice quavering.

Both the snow and Elsa’s cold smile became harder. Sleet now fell in sheets around them. The royal family could hardly see through the downpour, but the glimpses they saw of their daughter through flakes of white were horrible ones to behold.

“She’s a witch!” screamed a nearby woman, clutching a baby to her chest to protect it from the elements.

A man joined his voice to the rising tumult of the crowd. “She’s putting a curse on us!”

They closed in on her, brandishing weapons and terrified expressions. Through the snow, Elsa saw her sister reaching out for her – but their parents had hold of the other arm, and were steadfastly dragging her back into the castle with terror in their eyes.

Elsa kept smiling. “Not yet,” she murmured. “Not yet.”

-              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -             

Kristoff stared out the window. It had been three days since the snow had begun, and it showed no sign of stopping.

It had been three days since Elsa had run away into the mountains. As the villagers closed around her, the princess had summoned a whirlwind cold enough to cause frostbite. It whipped around in controlled chaos, every wave of Elsa’s arms calculated. The people were thrown back violently in the wind, leaving her free. With a smile, thin lips as pale as a corpse and a determined set to her brow, Elsa had thrown her crown to the ground and escaped.

It had been three days since the villagers had come out of their homes. Snow piled up so high in just the first day that doors were blockaded and roofs were creaking under the weight. Kristoff, as a servant in the castle, fared better than most; at least there were fireplaces and ample wood for the royal family to warm themselves. In town, those who had ventured out to restock their fireplaces had not returned.

After three days, Anna’s eyes were red and her face was streaked with tears. It hurt the blonde boy too much to say. Dimples and smiles had turned into a wobbling chin and a miserable countenance. As her oldest friend, Kristoff knew better than anyone how to console the princess; they’d grown up together in the palace, almost as close as the princess had been with her newly absconded sister. But no one, not even he, knew how to cheer her up. Anna had seen the look in Elsa’s eyes when she came striding into the kingdom, and there had been no love there.

After three days, fireplaces weren’t cutting it anymore. Anna’s tears nearly froze on her face, and everyone in the castle, royals and servants alike, bundled themselves in blankets and huddled together for whatever warmth they could find.

Anna, however, decided to channel her little sister. Hands in two pairs of mittens, she turned page after page of books, trying to find answers. Kristoff, ever the obedient friend, helped her. They learned stories of far off kingdoms where magic flowers grew and of witches that lived in the gnarled, twisted forests of Arendelle. But, nothing could they find that pertained to stopping the eternal winter that raged outdoors.

Until Kristoff happened upon a book about ice trolls.

“Listen to this,” He called to Anna, nose deep in a leather bound book. “Ice trolls are huge, dangerous beings that live in the mountains. If you happen across one, get away as quickly as possible; they are very stupid, but they enjoy eating their male victims and enslaving the women to clean their stolen hordes of treasure.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” She huffed in response, running a desperate hand through her disheveled hair.

Kristoff continued. “Beware the trolls’ powers over ice. The creatures can freeze a human’s heart, leaving one cold and lifeless forevermore.”

Anna sat straight up. She remembered her sister’s face when she had returned from the mountains. Even while insulting her, Elsa’s face showed no emotion. No malice, no anger, no joy. Nothing at all. “Trolls? Do you think that’s what happened to her?”

“It must be,” he continued, running a stubby finger through the text as he skimmed onward. “One will have power over the elements of winter, but at a cost. Love cannot be felt with a frozen heart. Power will be yours, but you will be as if a living corpse is walking the earth in your place.”

Gloved hands clapped over Anna’s mouth. “Is there a cure?” She pleaded. Tears were welling up in her eyes again, so Kristoff read even more hurriedly than before.

The further he read, the more optimism was stolen from him. Nowhere in the pages was a remedy mentioned, and he dreaded closing the book and turning to Anna only to say that he had no solution. Luckily, he didn’t have to. In the last sentence, added in almost like an afterthought, was the words that held all of their hope.

“Only love can melt a frozen heart.”

They looked at each other. “What does that mean?” Anna asked.

Her blonde companion shrugged. “Has Elsa ever been in love?”

“Not that I know of,” the red headed princess worried. “She’s always preferred to be alone.”

Kristoff sat and thought about love. The first thing that came to mind was the love he felt for Anna- the love that was forbidden between a servant and a member of royalty. The love that swelled up in his chest each time he heard her laugh, or noticed that her shoes were on the wrong feet.

But the more he thought, the more the confines of love’s definition expanded. He had loved his parents, before they died and left him to struggle along as an orphan. He loved Anna’s parents, for taking a dirty urchin in off the streets in exchange for light work. He loved Elsa – he had grown up with her too, like a sister, and knew all of her quiet, introverted mannerisms. Looking at Anna and remembering the tears she’d shed for her lost sister, he knew that she loved Elsa more than anyone.

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be romantic love,” he suggested. “You love Elsa, right? Maybe that’s the answer.”

Anna looked dubious, but the hopelessness in her face had been replaced with a spark.

Hoping against hope, he took Anna’s hand comfortingly. “What do you say we try and find your sister?”

Kristoff spent the next hour packing provisions in his sled. Then, he spent another half of one trying to talk himself out of it. What if they died of frostbite in the tundra Elsa had summoned out of the clouds? What if Anna, reckless as she was, slipped and fell in the snow? What if he had to return to the castle and explain to her parents that their heir was gone?

But then, he looked at the piles of snow getting higher and higher every minute he waited. If they didn’t at least try, what if the snow never stopped? What if the snow fully encapsulated the kingdom? What if everyone became trapped in their homes, slowly starving and waiting for the cold to take them?

With that thought in mind, Kristoff and Anna began their journey. The snow had piled up too far to even budge the door, so the two opened a window and climbed out.

The cold hit Kristoff like a brick wall. His teeth immediately set to chattering, despite the three scarves he’d wrapped around his neck and face. But when he turned back in order to help Anna clamber out of the window, he felt just a little bit warmer when she smiled that dimpled smile at him.

They turned their faces to the mountains where Elsa had disappeared for the first time, and they began their journey.

-              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -             

Meanwhile, Elsa was still wandering.

With sure steps and eyes as hard as steel, she traipsed through the growing snow on the ground with ease. Not a single white hair came out of place in her strictly perfect, regal style. She didn’t know where she was going, but it didn’t particularly bother her.

Elsa found herself at the scene of her rebirth. The ice-encapsulated trolls still marked the clearing in the mountain forest, and their cave stood open and dark nearby.

Curious, she entered the cave.

Their piles of treasure stood glinting in the meagre light that entered the mouth of the cave. Gold made up most of the heap, but precious gems were scattered here and there. The princess took no notice of these things. What caught her eye was the few dresses tossed in the darkest corner of the cave. She bent down and picked them up. They were old – much older than her time. She saw one that looked like the fashion during her mother’s time, and another that resembled her grandmother’s old fashioned dress. Their fabric ran through her thin fingers as Elsa contemplated who they might have belonged to. Girls that had died in the servitude of the trolls, perhaps – their dresses tossed aside when the trolls ate the girls too weak to go on.

She spotted a light blue dress that caught her fancy. It wasn’t too old, but had the sophisticated air of a style that never became outdated. Curious, she put it on. It had a high collar that covered her pale, thin neck, and long sleeves that ended in a point at the knuckles of her third fingers. White embroidery danced around the edges of the skirt, like the snow on the ground had been swept up by her walk and decided to lace themselves around her attire.

All in all, Elsa liked it. She found a mink shawl that may have been the prized belonging of a peasant girl, and a tall, wickedly pointed, gold crown sitting abandoned on the purloined treasure stack.

Placing it on her head, she gave herself a coronation. No longer would Elsa be the second princess of Arendelle, the spare heir no one needed. She would be the Queen of Winter, and all would bow to her.

Disregarding the rest of the cave’s treasures, Queen Elsa walked out of the cave for the last time. In the dress of a dead girl, lips turning blue, she kept wandering.

-              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -              -             

Anna and Kristoff found her after seven days of searching. They had fallen into snowbanks, been pursued by wolves, and had largely used up the food they’d brought with them. Almost all they had left were blankets, which they huddled under as they endeavored to make fires. All long the mountainside, stacks of discarded firewood could be seen where they failed. You could track them up half the mountain, with these piles of sticks – until the path abruptly ended where the two had given up trying.

But, they kept walking. They lifted their feet high to wade through the snow and shivered in wet clothes. Anna was becoming increasingly worried about her companion; his face became paler and paler the farther they traveled, his sneezes more pronounced and his expression more miserable. He was getting sick, and there was nothing Anna could do.

When they saw the castle, Anna grabbed Kristoff’s hand. His grip was weaker with every passing day, but he still gave a weak smile through the scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face. They even stopped to marvel at the creation they beheld.

High on the mountain was a castle made of ice. Translucent and shining, it may have been the most beautiful thing either of them had ever seen. But ice was hard and unforgiving, and the snow fell harder and harder the nearer they got to the gorgeous palace. A staircase lead directly to it, so they grasped each other’s hands firmer through their layered mittens and shared a grim look.

The staircase spanned between two adjacent mountains. A deep, dark crevice separated the two; it wasn’t a good combination with the stair’s building material, as it was incredibly slippery. Anna couldn’t help but look down with each treacherous step.

They finally made it to the top, breathing sighs of relief. Kristoff was breathing harder, however, and didn’t look so good. Panicking, Ana led him into the castle. Fortunately, the doors opened before them – neither had the strength to fashion a battering ram.

Up a spiral staircase, fractals glimmering like diamonds, they found the throne room.

Elsa sat on a crystal throne, still as a statue. Her shin matched her hair in its whiteness, blue lips motionless as she regarded the interlopers coolly.

Anna was the first to speak. “Elsa?”

Elsa lifted her head with a rigid movement. She held her arms out to each side, fur shawl spreading across them regally. “Evidently.”

Anna took a deep breath. “Elsa, I need to talk to you. Please stop the snowstorm. People are dying in Arendelle,” the princess said desperately.

The queen’s expression didn’t change. “Why should I care?” One pale eyebrow lifted in sardonic mockery.

“Because they love you.”

She scoffed. “Love me? They chased me out with pitchforks.”

“Because they were afraid,” Anna pleaded. “Elsa, _I’m_ afraid.”

Frigid eyes held no emotion. “Then leave.”

Hot tears threatened to escape from the corners of Anna’s eyes. Even Kristoff’s weak, reassuring arm around her shoulder did nothing to banish them. They slid down her freckled cheeks, and fell like a raindrop on the ice floor.

Several more followed suit until Anna buried her face in her gloves - but Kristoff distracted her with a gasp.

When she looked at him for explanation, he pointed to the floor where her tears had fallen.

They were melting a hole through the floor. A crater becoming steadily wider cracked Elsa’s floor, and she regarded the pair with fear. “What have you done?”

Anna remembered, shock flowing through her. Only love could melt a frozen heart.

Anna started to walk toward Elsa, who held out a hand. “Stay away from me.” Anna kept walking, and Elsa kept warning.

“I said, get away from me!” She shouted, waving her arms and calling up a gust of air strong enough to blow Anna off the balcony of the palace. The wind flowed around Anna like a river around a boulder, and barely blew a hair out of place.

Elsa threw icicle after icicle at the approaching princess, gray eyes wide. “No! I will _not_ give up this power. _I command you to stop!”_

Anna took off her gloves and reached for Elsa’s outstretched hands. They were so, so cold –but that didn’t stop Anna from pulling her near and wrapping her arms around her younger sister in a tight embrace.

Elsa fought her at first, pushing against her shoulders with thin, frail arms. Eventually, she stopped altogether. The frozen ceiling began to creak and huge shards of ice fell around them like an avalanche, but Anna didn’t let go.

Kristoff shouted something, but they didn’t hear over the groaning of the palace’s support beams. Anna only relinquished her hold when Elsa felt just a little warmer.

“…Anna?” Came a soft, timid voice.”

The girl in question pulled back from the embrace. “Elsa?”

The white haired girl began to shiver. “What happened? …What have I done?” She demanded, voice rising in panic.

Kristoff’s shout came again, but closer this time. “We have to get out!” He yelled, punctuated by hard coughs, and grabbed the sisters’ arms.

They ran out the way they had come just in time before the palace began to melt in earnest. Not looking back, they sprinted down the staircase before that went the same way.

The three stood on a mountain, watching it all melt to the ground.

The younger princess took the crown off her head, looking at it with confusion. “How did you… bring me back?” She asked timidly.

“I’ll tell you later,” Anna smiled. “But first, you’re going to tell me how you ran afoul of mountain trolls.”

Elsa cringed, but Anna took her hand. She reached out and took Kristoff’s as well. The snow had ceased, and his pallor was looking less alarming by the minute.

They made their way down the mountain as the clouds parted, and the sun shone down on them. The warmth of it, no longer combatted by Elsa’s torrential storm, was now free to melt the snow that trapped villagers of Arendelle in their homes. After a few hours, the feet upon feet of snow had melted into manageable piles.

Everyone in the kingdom opened their doors. Stepping out, they turned their faces up to the bright sky. It was summer once again, and sunshine warmed their faces like the glow of a desperately assembled fireplace never could.

For after all, winter may seem harsh and unforgiving in all it’s beautiful and cruel splendor. But in the face of sunshine and love, what is frozen will always melt away.

 

End

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> First time fanfiction writer - any critique is welcome!


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